[14] Fields's attack was called an act of domestic terrorism by the mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia's public safety secretary, the U.S. attorney general, and the director of the FBI.

[16][17] Jason Kessler, the organizer of the rally, had been protesting for months against the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville.

[13] The organizer of the Unite the Right rally, Jason Kessler, held a news conference near the Charlottesville City Hall the day after the car attack.

[8][23] After living in southwest Florence for ten years, Bloom and Fields moved to Monclova Township, Lucas County, Ohio, for her job in late 2016.

[8] Fields entered the Army on August 18, 2015, and was released from active duty "due to a failure to meet training standards" on December 11 the same year.

[7][35] Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson said that Fields "was never awarded a military occupational skill nor was he assigned to a unit outside of basic training.

[7] According to Weimer, Fields "left school for a while" and became quieter about politics when he came back, until his senior year, when the candidates for the 2016 presidential election were declared.

[29][32] Her friends described her "as a passionate advocate for the disenfranchised who was often moved to tears by the world's injustices", and said that she "spoke out against inequality and urged co-workers to be active in their community".

[5][44] NPR's Carrie Johnson reported that investigators wanted to know whether Fields had crossed state lines with the intent to commit violence.

"[31] Lisa Monaco, Homeland Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, raised the question of whether the attack would be investigated as domestic terrorism.

[45] Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Good Morning America on August 14 that the attack met the definition of domestic terrorism.

Today's indictment should send a clear message to every would-be criminal in America that we aggressively prosecute violent crimes of hate that threaten the core principles of our nation."

Va. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen called the indictment "the culmination of a 10-month investigation that involved searching the social media accounts where Mr. Fields showed an interest in harming minorities."

It was speculated that this plea bargain was taken to avoid the possibility of the death penalty, as the option of capital punishment was removed from his potential sentence as a result of the alteration.

In addition, Heyer's mother stated that she opposed the death penalty option and did not want Fields to die, saying, "There's no point in killing him.

[54] Charlottesville Police Lieutenant Steve Upman said in a release, "The victims related to these charges suffered serious injuries and in some cases permanent physical disabilities."

"[55] At the preliminary hearing in December 2017, State District Court Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. certified all ten charges to a grand jury.

[10] Surveillance video footage from the restaurant reportedly showed the Dodge Challenger zooming past "a string of vehicles" heading south on Fourth Street Southeast.

"[6] However, Fields's roommate on a class trip to Europe in 2015 told the Associated Press, "He had friends, he had people who would chat with him, it wasn't like he was an outcast.

While it will never make up for the loss of a member of our community, we will pursue charges against the driver of the vehicle that caused her death and are confident justice will prevail.

[31] In a statement on August 18, Mayor Michael Signer called on the City Council to "take concrete steps to memorialize Heather's name and legacy."

"[23] Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice.

"[31] White supremacist rally speaker Richard B. Spencer placed the blame for the attack on authorities, who "failed to keep order."

Spencer refused to condemn Fields, saying, "This man could have lost control because he felt in danger and slammed on the accelerator and unintentionally killed someone.

"[72] Other white supremacists, such as James Allsup and Andrew Auernheimer, went on to claim that Heyer's death was the result of a weight-related heart attack,[73] a conspiracy theory which stemmed from a statement by Susan Bro in an NBC News interview[74] and was pushed by white supremacist media outlets such as Occidental Dissent and The Daily Stormer, the latter which had its services suspended by their domain registrar following a blog post mocking Heyer.

[77] Lawyer Mark Fenster said those conspiracy theories were "part of a self-sustaining narrative created by white nationalists who might be worried that the violence that took place delegitimized their cause.

[83] Heyer's memorial service was held at Charlottesville's Paramount Theater on August 16; her mother spoke to hundreds of mourners, asking them to honor her by acting against injustice and turning "anger into righteous action".

[87] She quit her job as a secretary and bookkeeper for a Virginia Cooperative Extension office after the attack, and became the president and chair of the board of the Heather Heyer Foundation.

[88] On August 15, 2017, Tadrint and Micah Washington, who were in the white sedan that was hit during the attack, filed a US$3 million lawsuit in damages against Jason Kessler, James Alex Fields Jr., Richard Spencer and 30 other groups and individuals.

[88] On the afternoon of May 12, 2018, Heyer's close friend Marissa Blair married her fiancé Marcus Martin, who pushed her out of the car's way and was injured in the attack himself.